These German American Lutherans Are Tough to Track Down

Quite often, I'm reminded how thrilled I am that most of my ancestors were Catholic.  I love my faith, and I fully appreciate that the practice and love of the Catholic faith has been handed down from generation to generation in my family.  But from a genealogy point of view, if your peeps were Catholic, you've probably hit pay dirt!

That's because all sacramental records are kept at the diocese level along with being kept at the actual parish.  And every diocese has an archive department.  I could tell quite a few tales about how much I love my Catholic church archivists.  These records hold priceless information--not only names of parents but also godparents.  Usually, godparents were family members (unless you're dealing with my Geisens, and then the godfather is someone who owns a brewery), and they can lead you in all different and fabulous directions.

I know how to get my Catholic records (even if I have to wait awhile because that archive office is closed for renovation and relocation).  It must be in my blood since my great uncle, Msgr. Gerhard "Gerry" Geisen was the Chancellor (head of the archive office) for the Covington diocese.

And then I run into my Protestants.  They're tough sometimes.  The Anglicans on my maternal grandpa's side have cooperated with me.  Great Britain has released quite a few of those records.  But the German American Lutherans..........

They haven't cooperated in my search quite so much.  Actually, not at all.  I can't find Pittsburgh/Allegheny Co. Lutheran records online.  I've found a few churches that have had their records microfilmed, so I'm hoping against hope that my German Meyers and Seips worshipped there.  Yeah, what are the odds of that?  I'll put it this way--I'm not going to hold my breath.

I finally did get one lead.  Someone posted on Ancestry about where some of the old records for western Pennsylvania Lutheran records are kept.  Do I see a road trip in my future?  Certainly a phone call.

Lutheran Church Records--Thiel College

My dad's maternal grandfather, Frederick Meyer, was born in Pittsburgh to a Lutheran family.  But my great grandmother, Amelia Heger, "encouraged" him to convert to Catholicism before she'd marry him.  But I need to find out if he was baptized in the Lutheran church (he was conditionally baptized in the Catholic faith when he converted).  I need to find his parents' marriage sacramental record.  I need to find his siblings' baptismal documents.  Because those things will give me new names to track down.  I already know where the Meyer clan lived in Pittsburgh (the Birmingham suburb on the south side), and there are quite a few other Meyer people and some Seips in that neighborhood.

Historic Maps of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh City Directories

Are they mine?  I NEED TO KNOW!

Side note--Only if you're as obsessed as I am will you understand my perseverance.  If you're not into it, I fully understand you thinking to yourself "WTF?"

OK, thanks for listening to my vent and frustration.  Those of us who are ridiculously obsessed with our peeps know when we're "this close" to finding something.  And that's how I feel about this family.  I just need a few more pieces to my family puzzle.  And I need those Lutheran church records to start assembling it.  I also need to acknowledge that the research frustration is not all the Lutheran's fault.  It's also the responsibility of my Meyer family.  Try looking for "Johan Meyer" or "John Meyer."  Make sure that there's a brick wall close by that you can bang your head against.  He's become, for me, the poster boy for "Needle in a Haystack."